Zapu
drew
the
fourth
biggest
number
of
votes
in
Matabeleland
in
2018,
after
the
MDCs
and
ZANU
PF:
their
vote
remained
less
than
3%
(graph
9).
3.
National
relevance
of
the
Matabeleland
Vote
Approximately
17%
of
Chamisa’s
alleged26
national
vote
was
cast
in
the
three
Matabeleland
provinces.
This
shows
the
erosion
of
the
power
of
the
Matabeleland
voter
to
affect
the
national
outcome
at
the
presidential
level.
There
are
ten
provinces
in
Zimbabwe,
meaning
that
the
expectation
could
be
that
the
three
western
provinces
would
have
a
30%
impact
on
the
national
outcome.
As
these
three
provinces
are
among
the
four
or
five
–
Harare
and
Manicaland
being
the
other
two
-‐
that
are
seen
as
strongly
supportive
of
the
opposition,
the
erosion
of
Matabeleland’s
voting
power
has
long
term
consequences
for
any
future
opposition
presidential
candidates.
This
erosion
of
the
power
of
the
opposition
to
be
represented
nationally,
points
to
a
broader
issue
of
democracy
nationwide
being
eroded,
and
of
Zimbabwe
moving
once
more
towards
a
de
facto
one
party
state.
However,
as
our
previous
report
on
the
biometric
voter
registration
(BVR)
exercise
pointed
out,27
the
proportion
of
voters
registered
in
Bulawayo
and
Matabeleland
South
in
particular,
were
the
lowest
in
the
country,
with
Bulawayo
being
the
only
province
nationally
that
failed
to
achieve
60%
of
the
projected
voter
registration.
Matabeleland
South
was
second
lowest
in
BVR
registrations.
26
As
mentioned
before,
the
figures
were
contested
in
Chamisa’s
court
appeal,
although
the
court
ruling
was
not
in
his
favour.
27
Old
Beginnings,
Solidarity
Peace
Trust,
2018.
http://solidaritypeacetrust.org/1791/old-‐beginnings-‐the-‐political-‐
context-‐of-‐zimbabwe-‐and-‐a-‐report-‐on-‐biometric-‐voter-‐registration-‐bvr-‐a-‐national-‐and-‐matabeleland-‐perspective/
21
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